Chapter 1
“My God what is wrong with you!?” shouted Hannah as she looked into the mirror, wondering why she was panicking over the way she looked. A day had passed since she and Russell ate Chinese in her apartment and her mind hadn’t stopped dwelling on the young lawyer from Wales. She looked in the floor length mirror and analyzed her appearance. Typically, Hannah wore her blonde hair up above her ears, restrained by an elastic band in a pony tail or clipped on top. She never wore her hair down, though she tried it this time. It hung down in between her shoulder blades and possessed thick curls, giving an appearance of waves throughout the blonde strands. “This just isn’t me.”
She continued to look in the mirror at the rest of her appearance. She was wearing a deep, royal blue dress with thick shoulder straps. It was made of a soft material that shimmered in the light, magnifying her legs as she walked. Her shoes gave her an extra four inches of height, which she thought might make her taller than Russell. She was being self-conscious about her figure, something that she had never been concerned about before. Hannah possessed an incredibly athletic physique with muscular legs and a firm butt, both of which she was hoping her dress would highlight.
Hannah walked away from the mirror. She stepped over the clothes and other things on the floor in her bedroom as she reached her dresser. A small jewelry box, that contained all the jewelry Hannah owned, was sitting open on top of the dresser. Rummaging through it, she looked for the pieces that she wanted to wear that night. She pulled out a large silver necklace with a silver pendant and pearl accent as well as two silver earrings with pearls to match. With a soft sigh, she put the jewelry on and walked back over to the mirror to look at the completed package. “That’s not terrible,” she said as she looked at the jewelry on her. “I’m still not happy with everything else.”
She thought back about how she and Russell had met in Sydney and how they were now going on a date for the first time. She kept thinking about how handsome he was and how he always kept a positive attitude and disposition, something that she’d never encountered with a guy. Her encounters with men were always quick and self-fulfilling as she was always looking for instant gratification. The fact that she was stressing over a date was vastly different from anything she had ever done.
Hannah shook her head in disbelief as her mind continued to dwell on her date. She walked over to her tablet and pressed a few buttons to start dialing Alexis. “I need her opinion,” she said to herself as she looked at the screen, hoping her best friend would appear on the other end to tell her that everything was going to be ok.
Within seconds, the screen changed to an image of her best friend, who was also preparing for the night. “Why is your hair down?” asked Alexis immediately, skipping any pleasantries with her greeting and abruptly noticing the changes in Hannah’s appearance.
“Is it bad?” asked Hannah as her eyes lit up in a panic. “It is, isn’t it?”
Alexis laughed. “It’s not bad,” she said politely. “It’s just…well… different.”
“Different does not mean good,” continued Hannah.
“Different does not mean bad either,” Alexis retorted. “Stop being neurotic, it’s fine.”
Hannah huffed as she looked at Alexis on the screen. “Is it?”
Alexis smiled. “Hannah, you look great,” she said earnestly. “I’m not used to seeing you all dolled up. What makes this boy so special?”
“I have no idea,” replied Hannah. “I don’t know what makes him so different but something inside me is telling me to not screw it up.”
Alexis continued to look at Hannah’s appearance as she stepped away from the tablet and showed her entire ensemble. “Are you going to prom?” joked Alexis as she chuckled. “I’ve never seen you look this put together.”
“I’m always put together,” quipped Hannah.
“No, you’re always dressed,” joked Alexis. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you in a dress with your hair down.” Alexis paused as a look of disbelief crept up on her face. “Oh my god, Hannah. Are you wearing makeup?”
Hannah blushed as she huffed slightly. “Yes, I am,” she said in a perturbed fashion.
Alexis’s eyes lit up. “You look really good,” she said solemnly. “This guy must be really special for you to be doing this.”
She nodded. “I hope so,” replied Hannah. “So, what are your plans for tonight? Am I going to be able to run into you somewhere incase this date goes south?”
“Maybe. Trisha is moving back into town tonight and I told her I would meet her at her new apartment for a few drinks and to help her unpack,” explained Alexis as she leaned back in a chair. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to unpacking boxes with her, but it will be nice to catch up with her.”
“It’s been a few months since we’ve seen her,” said Hannah. “I hope she’s been staying out of trouble.”
“She and I have texted back and forth a few times and it seems like she is,” continued Alexis. “It will be nice though for us to have someone else we can hang out with.”
Hannah looked into the camera of the tablet. “Are you saying I’m not good enough for you?” asked Hannah with an appalled look on her face.
Alexis laughed. “Well, you did find yourself a man, finally. Maybe I do need to look for your replacement?”
“Preposterous!” shouted Hannah. “You will never need to replace me as no man will ever take me from you.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see about that,” continued Alexis as she reached forward and grabbed a small glass beside the tablet. “Honestly though, it will be nice to hang out with her while I wonder how you’re doing on your date. Will you at least text me during it?”
“Of course, I’m going to need several pointers on how to do this,” said Hannah. “I haven’t been on a serious date since I can remember, so I really may need your help. You’re the one who’s been in serious relationships before.”
Alexis nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been in a few,” she said as she started to think back on her other relationships and how well they went. She thought back to the man she was with for three years, Tad, and how, in the end, he wasn’t the man for her. She wanted him to be something that he couldn’t be. He refused to make Alexis a priority and never wanted to leave his comfort zone, something that Alexis adapted to. Finally, she shook free of that and dated around for a little while with Hannah as her wingman. However, once they reached Dubai, she was snared into a relationship with the billionaire playboy, Nathanial Jenkins. While that relationship was fun, it wasn’t meant to last. He was wrapped up in money, success, and was surrounded with an insatiable ego. Alexis knew she wanted a man with substance. She didn’t care about how successful he was, only that he tried his best and worked hard at it. She wanted a man who challenged her but made her a better person; something that she would work tirelessly to find.
“So, what’s going on with your hair?” asked Alexis as she looked through the screen. “I can’t remember the last time you didn’t put your hair up or restrain it somehow. What are you trying to do?”
“I’m trying to make it look pretty!” huffed Hannah with a great deal of angst. “I want to look good for him!”
“Your hair looks beautiful when you have it up, Hannah,” said Alexis in a calming manner. “Seriously, I’m jealous at how you’re always able to keep your hair looking perfect, even though you always have it tied up.”
Hannah stared into the screen as Alexis tried her best to calm her down. She breathed slowly, looking at Alexis with her steel blue eyes as she tried to be mad at her, but knowing that in the end, it wouldn’t last. “I want to do something special for this guy. I really want to show him that I want to do more for him.”
Alexis looked at the screen and shook her head in disbelief. “Hannah Burchfield, what are you talking about?”
“I have no idea,” replied Hannah. “I don’t know why I want to do more for Russell, but for some reason, I do.”
“That’s so weird,” said Alexis as a small smile crept over her face. “Well, talk to me. What do you think makes this guy so different than every other guy you’ve been with? What actually attracts you to him?”
Hannah placed both of her hands on the dresser and thought about that question for a few moments, looking into the screen at Alexis as she came up with her words. “Honestly, I can’t put my finger on it,” she said softly. “There’s just something about him that is different.” She paused and looked away, biting her bottom lip to come up with a better answer. “Alexis, you and I both know how men look at me. Most of the men that we know and that we associate with think of me as a piece of meat. They think of me as a great lay; the girl who will give them the best time they’ve ever had between the sheets. And honestly, I liked being regarded as that. I liked being thought of as promiscuous and kinda slutty. I didn’t want a relationship with someone but I still wanted the benefits, so it really worked out for me. I had some amazingly fantastic nights with some great guys and I wouldn’t change that for anything. Russell just looks at me differently and talks to me like I’m not that girl. I wonder more if I’m not being myself or if maybe I’ve changed.”
“Do you think that maybe you’ve grown up a little bit?” asked Alexis.
“Maybe,” she continued. “I mean, I still want to put him on my bed right now, but some part of me is telling me that I should wait and see what happens. There is a part of me that really wants this to work.”
Alexis smiled. “Hannah, you may be in love.”
“Shut up!” she shouted with an immediate scowl on her face. “You take that back!”
“I will do no such thing!” playfully shouted Alexis. “Good for you! I’m so happy for you!”
“I don’t know what you’re happy for?” asked Hannah sarcastically. “I’m not in love.”
Alexis chuckled. “Oh, you know you’re falling for him. Just admit it and get on with your life.” She paused while she watched Hannah fume some more. “It’s ok to allow yourself to become vulnerable. No one will think any differently of it and you’ll be able to start a new chapter in your life. You never know, maybe he’s the one. Maybe he is the man that you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life with. You never know until you allow yourself to get hurt.”
Hannah shook her head as she reached for a few hairpins on the counter. “So, I should wear my hair up?”
Alexis nodded. “Hannah, you should always wear your hair up.”
“Fine,” she said as she started to pin it up. “It would be fun to casually run into you tonight though.”
“I may be able to make that happen,” replied Alexis. “Maybe after Trish and I finish at her apartment, we can just casually find you somewhere in the city.”
Hannah smiled as she finished placing her hair where it needed to go. “That would be excellent,” she replied. “I’d love for you to get to know Russell a bit more.”
“I think that would be an amazing idea,” she replied. “It’d be great to spend time with the man who finally convinced you to change your ways.”
Hannah shook her head. “That’s enough out of you,” she said with a smile. “I’ll see you soon!”
“Text me later if things start to get weird!” shouted Alexis as Hannah ended the call and looked up at her appearance in the mirror.
“This looks more like it,” she said as she saw her hair behind her. With a smile she turned away and headed for the door, hoping to have a great time tonight.